Clamp or connector



m. 625,668. Patented ma 23,1899.

J. r. GILLILAND.

cum on counacmn.

(Application filed June 10, 1898.1

(No Model.)

fifz'znesses: Inventor %%03M&

JZZWIzey UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. GILLILAND, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN.

CLAMP OR CONNECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 625,668, dated May 23, 1899.

Application filed June 10,1898. Serial No. 688,063. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES F. GILLILAND, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Adrian, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Clamp or Connector, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to clamps or connectors for holding or clamping Wires or other objects, and more particularly to that class of said devices in which a set-screw is employed to bind or fasten the wire, combined with a jam-nut to fix the screw and prevent it from turning and loosening the wire or other object to be held.

The invention is especially useful for binding-posts of electrical apparatus, and is herein shown and described as embodied in a binding-post.

The objectof the invention is to produce a simple, cheap, and effective device; and to this end the invention consists in a jamnut made to operate both as a clamp-nut to clamp the screw and after themanner of the ordinary jam-nut. This it may do by operating to compress the post or block into which the set-screw is tapped, the post or block being preferably split or divided and the nut being coned internally to operate upon the conical end of the post or being otherwise properly constructed to compress or draw the sides of the block or post together upon the screw when said nut is turned down upon the screw to jam the latter. I do not, however, limit myself to this particular way of clamping the screw, as the gist of the invention consists in making the jam-nut operate also as a clamp by wedging or clamping a device upon the screw laterally when turned down upon the screw as a jam-nut.

My invention consists also in the details of construction hereinafter described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a binding-post embodying my invention. 'Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section.

A is the body of the block'or post, tapped as usual to receive the set-screw B and having the socket C to receive the wire or other part to be clamped by said set-screw B in the usual or any desired manner.

D is a jam-nut tapped so as to be capable ofturning upon the screw B. As usual in connectors, the jam-nut D operates to jam the screw B when it is turned upon said screw and brought-firmlyinto engagement with the block or post. In my presentinvention, however, the said nut performs the additional function of clamping the screw B in its socket.

by drawing or forcing the device or part'of the device laterally against the screw. For convenience and simplicity the nut D operates for this purpose bycompressing the post upon the screw, the said post being for this purpose divided or split at a number of points a and the nut being made cup-shaped, as shown, to embrace the tapered end of the post when it is turned down upon the screw B, and to thereby compress or draw the sides of the post together and firmly hold the screw against turning.

The form of the tapered end of the post and of the cup-shaped cavityin the nutD may be largely varied. As shown, both have a taper, but either one of, them alone might have a taper, as is obvious. give the cup-shaped nut an internal taper, as shown, which fits upon the taper on the end of the post, and thereby provides alarge sur face of frictional engagement which serves to make the said nut more effectual as a j ain-nut and also gives a more effectual wedging action. Ido not, however, limit myself to this internal cone or taper on the jam-nut. 4

The base of the post A is shown as provided with teats b, which operate as usual to prevent the post from turning upon the base, to which it is secured by a suitable screw entering the socket tapped in the base at o, as usual in the art. In previous constructions of bindingposts itis usual to use pins for the teats, which pins are inserted into sockets drilled into the base. According to my present invention, however, these teats are formed in one piece with the base by boring out the base to the depth of the teats, as shown in the operation of tapping the socket c, which may be done at the same time and in the same screw-cutting machine. This boring outleaves a coun- I prefer, however, to,

tersink of the depth of the teats, the edges of which countersink may be milled away or otherwise removed all around, excepting at the points where the teats are to be left, as

shown. This construction cheapens the cost of manufacture very considerably by lessening the number of operations required. The edge of the countersink on the base may be removed at all points, excepting where the teats are to be left, in any other suitable way Without departing from my invention.

The invention claimed is- 1. In a clamp or connector, the combination with the block or post tapped to receive the set-screw, and having the socket O, to receive the Wire or other part to be clamped, of a jamnut operating also as a clamp to clamp the screw.

2. In a clamp or connector, the combination with a split block or post having a socket to receive the wire to be clamped and tapped to receive a set-screw, of a jam-n ut on said screw acting to compress the post on the screw, as and for the purpose described.

3. In a clamp or connector, a socketed split binding-post having a conical end, in combination with a cup-shaped jam-nut engaging the conical end of said post, and a set-screw carrying said nut and passing through said post to engage the part to be clamped, as and for the purpose described.

Signed at Adrian, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, this 7th day of June, A. D. 1898.

. JAMES F. GILLILAND. Witnesses:

E. N. SMITH, PETER LOWE. 

